CHRONICLEWATCH RESULTS / Working for a better Bay Area

Suzanne Pullen

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, August 19, 2004

Photo: Suzanne Pullen

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cwpotrerodelsol01.JPG FOR CHRONWATCH USE ONLY A backed up sewer drain was cleared and the large pools of 2 month old standing water were drained at Potrero Del Sol Park in East Mission. 8/16/04 in San Francisco, CA. Suzanne Pullen / The Chronicle less

cwpotrerodelsol01.JPG FOR CHRONWATCH USE ONLY A backed up sewer drain was cleared and the large pools of 2 month old standing water were drained at Potrero Del Sol Park in East Mission. 8/16/04 in San ... more

Photo: Suzanne Pullen

CHRONICLEWATCH RESULTS / Working for a better Bay Area

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Now that the lawn is no longer a swamp, San Francisco's Potrero del Sol Park can again live up to it's title "pasture of the sun." Last Friday, crews discovered that a Frisbee had lodged in the sewer main, causing four drains at the base of the hilly park to back up. What crews initially thought were sewage pools turned out to be excess runoff from watering the grassy slopes. This water couldn't properly flow out of the backed-up drains and flooded the lawn. Last week, ChronicleWatch reported on the problem at the East Mission park after tipster Cindy Rae told us large pools of black liquid had been growing there since July 4. The nearby resident worried that it was a safety hazard to park visitors. San Francisco parks spokeswoman Rose Dennis told us that her department had been aware of a backed-up sewer line, but needed to coordinate with a city sewer crew to work on the problem. When crews sent a camera into the sewer main, they discovered the Frisbee and several potato chip bags clogging the pipe. The blockage was cleared, drain guards were installed and the stagnant water was drained. Dennis said that two dead birds found in one of the pools, which Rae had pointed out, had been killed by feral cats. She added that sawhorses near the drains will remain while the park's gardener reseeds the affected areas with new grass. Who got it done: Yomi Agunbiade, S.F. parks department general manager, (415) 831-2700; yomi.agunbiade@sfgov.org